So if you don't like near an Ulta or don't want to pay shipping charges, check out your local Rite Aid to look for Real Technique brushes.
I was really excited when I walked into Rite Aid the other day. There was a small display of Real Technique brushes. There was a starter face and eye brush set and 2 single powder and foundation brushes. I decided on the starter eye brushes. This is a 5 brush set. It comes with a case that doubles as a brush stand. I have never used Real Technique brushes before but have heard great things about them. There is a brow brush, a blender, a detailer, a crease and a base color brush. The set was $17.99. I have a Gold Member discount so I got 20% off of that. I use makeup brushes at least twice a day so it was worth the investment if these brushes are as good as everyone says.
So if you don't like near an Ulta or don't want to pay shipping charges, check out your local Rite Aid to look for Real Technique brushes.
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After I stopped at Harmon discount I went into the Christmas Tree Shops. They are very random in their cosmetic aisle. They have all kinds of cosmetics and brands from L'Oreal to L.A. Colors. On this trip I picked up 4 polishes from Nina Ultra Pro, Milani and Essie. I was really excited because the Essie polish is one I have wanted for a long time AND it was only $1. I was very disappointed in the polishes. The only one I liked was the green Milani 3D Holographic polish called Hi-Tech. It went on smooth and thin. It was good after 2 coats. It peeled off easy the next day though despite Seche Vite top coat. ($1)
I was SO disappointed in the Essie polish 'Belugaria'. The bottle is so pretty with the black and sparse holographic glitter. As you can see above, the black nail is the Essie Polish and no glitter!!!! The polish also has the caviar beads mixed in. So it dried to this awful bumpy mess with no glitter. I couldn't even bring out the shine with top coat because it would ruin the polish further. Good thing I only paid $1 instead of $8.50 for it. The neon yellow polish also was terrible. I know neons are generally tough polishes but this one took he cake. It dîdnt start being opaque until coat 6!!!!! It was streaky when it dried and the color was awful. Luckily it was on $1 as well. The last Milani polish looked pretty in the bottle as well. It was a dark plum purple base with gold reflective micro glitter called 'Totally Cool'. (I hate how Milani names their polishes). This also took around 5 coats to be opaque. The color was very flat. Top coat made it a tiny bit better. Overall I'm glad I only paid $4 for the 4 polishes. It's hit or miss at Christmas Tree shops so I guess I will have to try again another time. This week was more of a practical purchase week. I did get some beauty deals but there were not too many reward generating beauty sales. These type of haul's are great to pick up seasonal items, daily staples and to stuff to stockpile. We are moving soon so Im getting as much as I can of everyday things to help us with saving money in the new place.
The total of my haul is around $140.00. With store coupons, manufacturer coupons, and store rewards my total came to around $25.00. I also received $34 worth of store rewards. So technically my trip was free plus I got $9 for next trip. I love this months ipsy bag. I love the bag design and I love how I will use every item this month. Plus the NYX lip butter glosses are my new favorite. For those of you new to ipsy, it is a $10 a month mail subscription service. You get 4-5 travel or full sized items ranging from makeup, hair products, and lotions to perfumes. Some months are 'Meh....' And other months (like this one) are great. This BB cream came in 3 different shade blister packs. It also came with its own applicator. A regular sized bottle of this costs $34.00. This is larger than the typical sample sizes you might receive. I haven't tried it yet but my friend who is a fellow ipsy subscriber tried it and she said it was a disaster. The applicator is the same size as the circle blister pack so it makes it hard to get on the sponge. I also received a decent travel size bottle of Marc Anthony Dream waves Beach Spray. I don't know if it is me but I can never get my hair to look like how I picture celebrity tousled beach hair. My hair ends up looking like the crazy bird lady's hair who stands in the park feedin birds wearing a jacket and long skirt 365 days a year. It just looks in brushed and ratty. I will have to try this with a blow dryer to diffuse it. Regular price of this for a full size is $8.99 This is a full sized mascara from Be a...Bombshell. I received an all over color stick in a pale pink that was really nice in my first ever bag. I tried this today at work. (I have 0 time to get ready in the morning. You should see my 'take to work' makeup bag). The first thing I noticed was the smell. It was awful. I had to hold my breath while putting it on. This is called Lash Out mascara. It did a decent job of separating and lifting my lashes. It dîdnt wow me nor did it have the dark, bold definition that I like. I might use this as a vacation mascara where I wouldn't really be too upset if I left it behind. Retail price of this is $15.00. I can definitely think of better mascaras for half the price. I also received a Jesse's Girl product in a previous bag. It was an eyeshadow palette made for blue eyes. It was a good all around eyeshadow. This is a black liquid liner with a veeeeeeery precise felt applicator. It says it takes it's inspiration from Chinese calligraphy writing and it precise art. It has nice bold black color and draws thin lines which I like. Retail price is around $7. NYX Butter Gloss is my new favorite lip gloss. I have 2 other colors besides this one. In my ipsy bag was a peachy pink gloss called Apple Streudel. I bought 2 of these from Target a few weeks ago. They are $4.99 each. I like them because they aren't too sheer and aren't too pigmented. They are a nice medium. It also isn't too thick or thin. It has a nice consistency and nice coloring. Sometimes I try a pigmented gloss like a Milani lipgloss and I look like I should be the opening act for Bozo. If its too sheer and watery I feel like I just took a bite of oily pizza and dîdnt wipe my lips. If you are looking for a good lipgloss at a budget price, the NYX Butter Glosses are a great choice to try. I got these at Target. nYX is also at Ulta and some CVS's (Of course none around me) I dont know why I like this bag so much. The print says "Beach Luau at night". I also really like the material. It is designed by Rebecca Minkoff for ipsy. It is a quality makeup bag. Some of the other ones I have received from ipsy were less than stellar. Some were too plastic and hard to put stuff in or smelled funky. This is my favorit
I stop at Harmon once or twice a month on the weekends. We go to my mother in laws on Saturday and Harmon's is 2 min away with the Christmas Tree Shop in the same plaza.
Harmon usually has all the new limited edition and permanent collection cosmetics before anyone else. Some times I see displays there and then I never see them ever again anywhere else. I have to make sure it's a pay week when I hit up Harmon's. They do take manufacturer coupons but you cannot combine them with Harmon Coupons or Bed, Bath and Beyond $5 coupons. So I usually don't end up saving a whole lot with coupons. BUT the good thing is that Harmon prices are $1-$4 CHEAPER than drugstores. Here are some of the new displays at Harmon's. 4 of the Color Tattoos are on clearance for $3.97 each at Walgreens. Usually this means they will discontinue the color. The 4 shades are: Pomegranate Punk, Audacious Asphalt, Electric Blue and Fierce and Tangy. I really like Maybellines Color Tattoos. They actually stay put on your lids. I hate cream shadows because they fade off your eyelids. When you look in the mirror all the shadow has migrated to the lid crease. These do not do this. The colors are vibrant. The shadow can be blended on its own or with another dry or cream shadow. These also make great bases for shadow. I use them when Im running late and they always look great all day. My favorite is the pomegranate shade. You can wear it sheer or build it up for coverage.
If you are interested in these shades, get to Walgreens soon. Even if there is no clearance sticker over the display, scan it anyway. This week is BOGO 50% on Maybelline. At Walgreens there is a $1 off Maybelline eye in store coupon in the June Walgrens booklet . $3.97 $1.98. + ---------- $5.95 $2.00. - --------- $3.95 for 2 Maybelline clearance color Tatoos. Each tattoo is regularly around $8.00 Sally Hansen had to have broken some record for more limited editions collections released at once. There are at least 4 different new collections. I will post some pictures of the different collections. I picked up 2 polishes from my trips to Walgreens last week. I have only seen the new displays at Walgreens. Walgreens usually has bogo 50% off sales on Sally Hansen and they haven't had one in a while. i guess that's a good thing because it limited my polish intake. The polish I picked up below is actually from the Holiday collection. I liked it so much that I had to buy it. I don't know why I didn't pick it up then. The complete manicure polish is called '3...2...1derland'. It is a blue and green densely packed glitter polish. I like the Complete Manicure glitters because you can either wear them over polish or wear them on their own. I really like polishes with a blue and green combination. It reminds me of summer and mermaids. This looks l Ike the Sally Hansen permanent collection polish 'Mermaids Tale' without the black/dark blue jelly base. I love putting a few coats of this on to make glitter packed nails. When I go outside they light up when the sun hits them. I went to the store last week when I was wearing this polish and my daughter kept holding my finger, pointing to the nail and saying 'Pretty!'. This polish retails for $7.99. The polish below is the 2nd Sally Hansen polish I got from Walgreens. It is 'Color Frenzy' textured nail color. It is a glitter bomb with a clear base and different colors and types of glitter including flakes, bar and hexagon shaped. I really wasn't impressed with the color combinations and this is the only one I was drawn to. This polish is called 'Splatterd'. It is from one of the Liquid Mani-a shelf displays. I don't really consider this a 'textured polish'. Is a little gritty when it dries but nothing that would make me think it was a textured polish if I didn't know it was. This polish has gold flakes, light pink hexagon medium and small glitter, black medium sized hexagon glitter and small red bar glitter. The polish goes on pretty well. Sometimes you have to move around the glitter to get it spread out in the nail. Make sure you let the first coat dry before you try to get more glitter on. If you see that you need to fill in a section of nail that dîdnt get any glitter, don't try dabbing more from the bottle on. It turns into a huge goopey landslide of clear nail polish that gets all over the place. ($5.99) Overall I wasn't really impressed with the new limited edition collections from Sally Hansen for the summer 2014. My favorite Sally Hansen polish that I got last week was from the holiday 2013 collection. I think it is awesome that they came out with several limited edition collections for the summer but there really wasn't anything that hasn't been done recently. The matte and chrome collections have nice colors but Im not a fan of those finishes for my summer polishes. Some of the color frenzy glitters were similar to other polishes that have come out this season.
Still, Sally Hansen always has great quality polishes that won't break the bank. There are a nice variety of new and permanent polish collections this summer that there is something for everyone. ($3.19-$7.99) There were some good deals on a variety of items this week at CVS and Rite Aid. CVS did not have any makeup extra bucks deals this week. Most cosmetics were BOGO 50%. There is a great deal on Clearance Maybelline Eye Tattoo's later on in the post from Walgreens. My CVS haul included the L'Oreal shampoo ($6.99), Jergens Natural Glow 3 day tan sunless tan lotion ($11.99), Jergens Natural Glow Firming sunless tan lotion ($10.99), L'Oreal EverCurl hair product ($9.99), Say Yes to Tomatoes Facial Cleanser ($9.99), Banana Boat Baby SPF 50 spray on suntan lotion ($11.29), Banana Boar Spray Oil SPF 15 ($10.99), Princess Band-Aids ($5.49), Antibiotic Band-Aids ($5.49), L'Oreal Color Riche Balm in Rose Elixer ($8.99), Sally Hansen Big Glitter Top Coat ($5.99) and Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Matte polish ($5.99). With a few other things like candy and soda for my husband, the total came to $125.00. With store coupons, Manufacturer Coupons, Store Rewards and a 25% off coupon, I paid $19.98 for all of it. At Walgreens I bought the 2 Maybelline Eye Tattoos ($7.99 each), Nail polish remover rounds ($2 each) and 2 Cover Girl EyeLights shadow quads ($5.99 each). The total retail cost is $34.00. After coupons and store sales I ended up paying $8.90. The nail polish remover rounds were on clearance for .49 each. The Color Tattoo's were on clearance for $3.49 each and were BOGO 50%. I also used $1 off in store coupon for Maybelline. $3.49 +$1.75 ______ $5.24 -$2.00 (In store Coupon) ______ $3.24 Total for 2 Maybelline Color Tattoo's. (Retail $15.98) The Cover Girl Eye shadows were also BOGO 50%. I used 2, $1 Manufacturer coupons as well. They were $5.99 each. $5.99 +$2.99 ______ $8.98 -$2.00 MFC _______ $6.98 for 2 Cover Girl Eye Quads (Retail $11.98) At Walgreens I spent $11.72 for $34.00 worth of products. Band Aids, L'Oreal hair products, Jergens lotion and Banana Boat produced $21 Extra Bucks at CVS.
NYX is becoming more readily available. I used to have to go to Ulta or order online but now they are at Target and select CVS's ( sadly none where I live). I love NYX's sleek, cute packaging and their variety of products and colors. At Ulta I picked up 2 Love in Rio eyeshadow trio's in colors I have wanted for months. Plus they were BOGO 50% off. This pink, purple and black combo is called 'Nighttime in Rio'. I was very underwhelmed by these shadows. They were hard and scratchy on the brush and applied very flat and splotchy. I had to apply a few times to get coverage and pigmentation. I love the color combo but this shadow gets a big 'Meh....' From me. ($5.99) This blue, powder blue and pink combo is called 'Paraiso'. These were exactly like the shadows above in terms of consistency and pigmentation. They applied blotchy for me and required several re-applications to achieve good pigmentation. ($5.99)
Overall I was very disappointed by these shadows. They took me more effort to achieve color than other shadows. I don't like shadows that are really hard and dry. That's a way I know it's going to take a few applications. I also have 2 of the liquid glitter liners and they end up peeling off or flaking by the end of the day. I really haven't found anything by NYC yet that makes me really want to get other colors. I love their cute packaging and design so I haven't given up finding a winning product for me yet. I try so hard to be a fan of Cover Girl. There is a 25% chance that I will like the Cover Girl product I bought. And each time I go back and try something by them again. Cover Girl and Rimmel are the least represented brands in my 2 makeup train cases.
I bought 2 new EyeEnhancers eyeshadow quads from one of the newer Katy Perry displays. I really liked the combination of shades. Then I checked the permanent EyeEnhancers collection and saw 3 beautiful color combinations that must have replaced discontinued colors. I never saw these before. I couldn't decide which one to get. I must admit Cover Girl does have very pretty, complementing colors for their eye shadow palettes. Buuuuuut....... In the past the beautifulness ended as soon as the shadows were applied. They had a terrible formula. The colors were weak. The shadows were hard and dry. Will these new EyeEnhancers have the same or different formula? Let's take a look! There was an incredible deal at Walgreens last week. There was a $4 Almay manufacturer coupon and a Walgreens $2 in store coupon that you could use together. So you could get $6 off each cosmetic item. The shadows were $4.99 and the glosses were $5.99.
The Almay above came to a total of $37. With multiple $4 Almay coupons and the in store $2 coupon it came to less than $3 for everything. I told my friend Tracy about the deal and she is like 'but you hate Almay shadows'. Yes. That is true. I am not a huge fan of them. One main reason I sbecause they are so sheer and lack pigmentation that I'm used to. A few of the Almay shadows have decent coverage and I will throw it in my makeup bag or purse for emergencies or a touch up. I really like the glosses though. I like the texture, application and color of these. I know the same will be over today but I noticed that the glosses were on clearance for $1.97. If you still have $4 Almay coupons you could get 2 free. Sorry this is so late. I had a pretty good CVS haul last Sunday. I got 2 bags of Conair and Scuunci hair supplies, 2 Almay Eyeshadows, 2 Sally Hansen polishes, 2 maybeline lip products, a Venus Razor and a L'Oreal foundation. These items came to around $68.00. I ended up paying .38 cents. I was able to dig through my purse and pay in exact change. I haven't had a 'change haul' in a while. I picked up 2 polishes from the Permanent collection. One is a Complete Salon pink glitter from the Christmas/new years collection that was made permanent.($7.99) Then other is a Insta Dry pretty beach sand color. ($5.49) I finally bought a medicated Baby Lips balm in Berry Soft. ($4.99). I also got a pink gloss from the Bleached Neons Summer Collection. ($8.99). I got 2 Almay I-softies and a L'Oreal Infalliable foundation. ($14.99). Warning on the foundation. It is really, really watery and make sure to shake it with the cap on. The inside of my car can attest to that.
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